Arizona Coyotes Face Islanders: Five Questions With Eyes On Isles
The Arizona Coyotes are set to take on the New York Islanders tonight in Brooklyn. Ahead of the match-up, we spoke with Michel Anderson of Eyes On Isles about what to expect from the Islanders on Friday night.
Two games into a six-game road trip, the Arizona Coyotes are floundering.
They will be looking to sort themselves out tonight in Brooklyn as they face the New York Islanders. The Yotes will be just 24 hours removed from a 5-2 shellacking by the Montreal Canadiens, so it remains to be seen how the team will respond.
The Yotes will be facing an Islanders team led by John Tavares, one of the premier talents in the National Hockey League.
How they handle his line will go a long way towards determining the outcome on Friday.
We collaborated with Michel Anderson, the editor and site expert of Eyes on Isles, to break down the teams and the matchup heading into tonight.
Which Strome brother will excel? Dylan or Ryan?
Michel Anderson, Eyes on Isles:
It’s great to see that brother vs. brother match-up. The NHL is better with these bloodline battles. So who’s better Ryan Strome or Dylan Strome?
At this point, we know that Ryan Strome is an NHL caliber player. We just don’t know where on the NHL spectrum he sits. Is he a 50 point player or a 25 point player?
For Dylan, we have no idea what he’ll be. He’s clearly a heck of a prospect. He’s dominated the OHL even without Conor McDavid around. But who knows how that translates in the NHL.
We all remember Alexandre Daigle right?
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My vote stays with Ryan simply because we know he can produce in the NHL. Dylan on the other hand, who knows what he’ll be.
Jason Harrison, Howlin’ Hockey:
Naturally, since Dylan Strome was picked two slots ahead of his brother he must be the better player, right?
All jokes aside, I do feel Dylan Strome’s ceiling is higher than his brother’s. The question is simply whether he gets there or not.
One thing the pair seem to have in common already is trouble getting into the lineup. Dylan Strome was a surprise scratch for the Coyotes season opener which miffed some fans. Instead of beginning his (hopeful) ascendance, he had to watch as four other rookies took the ice while he sat in the press box.
There must be something about being a Strome that elicits that reaction from coaches.
He performed well in his debut against Ottawa and will hopefully be in the lineup to face his brother in Brooklyn.
Ryan may get the better of him for now, but with experience, I believe Dylan will live up to the hype.
What Is Your Team’s Biggest Strength?
Michel Anderson, Eyes on Isles:
Believe it or not but the New York Islanders strength is up front. It hasn’t really shown so far this season but a forward corps with John Tavares amongst it is immediately dangerous. But trust me, the Islanders strength is up front.
At least with Neck Leddy out with injury.
Tavares and conjoined twin Andrew Ladd are going to put up major points this season. It’s just a matter of when? So far the two have a combined two points, both belonging to the captain Tavares.
After the top two, the Islanders have a litany of potential 20 goals scorers that are ridiculously streaky, but you can count on at least one of them to be on their game.
Against the Ducks it was Josh Bailey, getting it done in overtime. If Brock Nelson goes missing, Anders Lee can pick up the slack. If Lee is MIA than Josh Bailey can step up.
Contrary to popular belief the Islanders have scoring depth.
Jason Harrison, Howlin’ Hockey:
Prior to the season, some thought the improved blue-line would be something the team could rely on after watching Oliver Ekman-Larsson go it alone a bit in recent times.
That hasn’t panned out so far in our first few contests.
The biggest strength is probably the exuberance and creativity of youth. It’s at least fun to watch.
The Coyotes have Anthony Duclair and Max Domi poised for breakout sophomore campaigns.
They are joined by rookies Dylan Strome, Jakob Chychrun, and Christian Dvorak.
There’s a whole lot of scoring potential packed into those five names and it will be very fun to watch them unlock that potential and unleash it at times this season.
What’s The Weak Spot?
Michel Anderson, Eyes on Isles:
The New York Islanders need to put in a full 60-minute effort. It sounds ridiculous to be saying that about professionals making incredible sums of money, but the Islanders have been MIA for large portions of every contest.
They’ve shown over the last four games that they just can’t keep a consistent effort over the duration of a full game. It’s great if they can turn it on in the third period and level the score, but maybe if they played at that level in the first and second they might not have to dig themselves out of a hole later in the game?
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The Coyotes are a young fast team, coasting through the first two frames is going to get the Isles in some hot trouble.
Jason Harrison, Howlin’ Hockey:
Goaltending, to be frank.
Mike Smith is a hit-and-miss goalie to begin with and now he may be out long term with a lower-body injury. Louis Domingue did well in relief last season, but eventually wore down as he was asked to start every night due to the Coyotes lacking an NHL caliber backup behind him when Smith was injured.
With Smith injured already, Domingue and the Coyotes are once again in that same position.
Domingue can provide league average goaltending, but right now the backup behind him is Justin Peters.
Yikes.
How Will Your Team Pull Out A Win?
Michel Anderson, Eyes on Isles:
The New York Islanders need a consistent effort over 60 minutes. Can I use the same answer again? Probably not. It kind of goes against the spirit of the Q&A. But honestly, consistent effort is a weakness.
How about the power play? It’s clicking at just over nine percent with a single goal on 11 attempts. You can thank that aforementioned Ryan Strome for that one. The Islanders power play was a sore spot last season too. Getting an 18.3% efficiency rating and ranking 17th in the league per ESPN.
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And the power play woes aren’t likely going to get any better against a well disciplined Arizona team.
Maybe a change needs to happen for the Islanders, they haven’t finished in the top half of power play efficiency ratings since 2012-13.
Jason Harrison, Howlin’ Hockey:
I would assume whoever matches up with John Tavares is going to be pivotal.
That should be Martin Hanzal, who will likely be flanked by wingers Max Domi and Anthony Duclair if the lines hold up. Domi and Duke are both goalless this season, so it would behoove the Coyotes for that line to get going.
On the other end, defensive lapses have been a near constant for the Coyotes in their contests this season. Both Smith and Domingue have faced an inordinate number of breakaways and partial breakaways already this young season thanks to a lot of turnovers and giveaways in their own end.
If they can’t protect Domingue (or Peters, if he’s in net), the score could get ugly in a hurry.
Reasons For Future Optimism
Michel Anderson, Eyes on Isles:
It’s only four games into the season. It’s really just that simple. The New York Islanders are better than what they have shown over this very very short season so far.
Like I’ve said already, the likes of Andrew Ladd and John Tavares have yet to really click. Or even produce. Both are too good to go a full 82 games on this current scoring pace.
Since being in the league Tavares hasn’t scored less than 54 points or at a pace of .65 points per game. (That was his rookie year). This current funk he’s in won’t last. And when it breaks the Islanders will be a team to fear.
But until that happens, it looks fairly grim for the New York Islanders. Going 1-3-0 to start the season isn’t great, but it’s way too early to write them off just yet.
But just you wait Isles fans, Johnny isn’t “here” yet.
Jason Harrison, Howlin’ Hockey:
This is an easy one. The plethora of highly touted kids making their way to Glendale.
Coyotes fans have faced a long dry period since that Western Conference Finals berth in 2011-12. We’ve had a ton of high draft picks enter our system as well as a few others via trade.
Those kids are finally making their way to the NHL roster and fans are excited for the future.
Dylan Strome, Christian Dvorak, and Jakob Chychrun are all explosive talents and made the team out of training camp. Lawson Crouse is another first rounder who made the roster this year. With them joining the likes of Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, along with OEL who is still just 25-years-old, the future is very bright.
There are still more potential stars waiting in the system as well, including the one who may be the brightest of them all, 7th overall pick Clayton Keller.
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Keller is an absolute wizard with the puck and probably would’ve been off the board if he didn’t face the same kind of undersized concerns that plagued players like Johnny Gaudreau.
He’s spending the year at Boston University, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he dominates and is then on the team in Glendale next fall.